Thursday, September 19, 2013

A killer
look at one of the most compelling labels on the Chicago house scene of the 80s
– a tiny imprint, but one that cut some mighty important music – especially
sounds that would have great resonance in the global acid explosion at the end
of the decade! The work here has edges that are often a bit sharper than those
of more familiar house at Trax Records – and a rhythmic intensity that's very
focused, very stripped-down, and very much distilled to the core essence of
Chicago house – that harder punch that's informed by a lot of European work at
the start of the 80s, but turned towards the decimated disco scene in the US –
to rise up a whole new generation with a great burst of energy! The package is
maybe the best we've seen so far from Still Music – and features these very
detailed notes that tell the fascinating story of the label's rise and short
history – really getting at the midwestern melting pot that made house music so
great. Titles include "Kill Yourself Dancing" by Razz, "Lover
Man" by Ben Mays, "It Could Be Acid" by White Knight, "Face
The Music (dub mix)" by Boom Boom & Master Plan, "Persia" by
Modern Mechanical Music, "Electric Baile (commercial mix)" by Master
Plan, "I Want You (transcontinental mix)" by Hex Complexx, and
"Rock The Nation (Kenny Jason rmx)" by Matt Warren. 2CD set features
a whopping 21 tracks in all! ~Dusty
Groove

TOMMASO
CAPPELLATO AND ASTRAL TRAVELER - COSMETHIC

A
totally sweet set from drummer Tommaso Cappellato – a player who was mentored
by legendary spiritual jazz maestro Harry Whitaker, and who works here in a
groove that really recalls Whitaker's best music of the 70s! The album features
a small group that's heavy on Fender Rhodes and moog – keyboards that really
stretch out beautifully, in ways that are filled with soul and spirit – soaring
out into space over Cappellato's tight drums, and mixed with these flute lines
and voice that really add a heavenly quality to the set! The whole thing rests
perfectly in a space between Strata East and some of the best of the Japanese
releases of the 70s – including Whitaker's landmark Black Renaissance album –
and there's even a bit of Lonnie Liston Smith elements to the record as well.
Wonderful stuff throughout – with titles that include "Awakenings",
"Consciousness", "Entering The Dream", "My Body Needs
To Breathe I Doesn't", "Music Power", and "Cosmethic".
~ Dusty Groove

One of
the greatest German jazz guitarists – heard here in some of his grooviest work
of the 60s – an amazing batch of material recorded for the art house films of
director Hansjurgen Pohland! Zoller already had a modern tone by the time of
these recordings – a sublime sound on the guitar that rivaled that of Billy
Bauer with the Lee Konitz group of the 50s, but which was also freer, and open
to rich new ideas too – especially from a rhythmic and tonal standpoint, which
always keeps Zoller's work compelling! Attila's way more than just another
jazzy player on the instrument – and film material like this really lets him
stretch his imagination – and unlock a whole whose of tones and colors that are
quite imagistic in nature. Most tracks are played by a small combo led by
Zoller – often working in front of the screen as images passed by – scenes from
films that include Katz Und Maus, Tamara, and The Bread Of Our Early Years.
This set marks the first release of the material actually recorded for those
films on record – and titles include "Family Bricks",
"Pilenz", "Road Song", "Minesweeper", "Cold
Fusion", "Adam's Apple", "Hedwig's Departure",
"Mousetip Strut", and "Mahlke. ~ Dusty Groove